POMONA – Two years ago, Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher made one of greatest comebacks in NHRA history. He won the Auto Club NHRA Finals and he did it with a national elapsed time record against Melanie Troxel to defeat Doug Kalitta in the Powerade Series by 14 points.

It could happen this year in Funny Car.

Heading into the 24th and final national event of the season, 64 points separate the top five drivers in the class. Buoyed by his win at the ACDelco Nationals in Las Vegas on Nov. 2, Cruz Pedregon leads the chase by 12 points over Tim Wilkerson and 39 over Robert Hight.

Tony Pedregon, who own last year’s title, and Jack Beckman are 62 and 64 points behind, respectively, and are longshots for the title.

Two other championships are also at stake. Jeg Coughlin is firmly entrenched in the top spot in Pro Stock and just needs the top qualifying position to wrap up his second consecutive crown.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, 2007 champ Matt Smith is in front of a pair of riders who have good chances to knock him off. Eddie Krawiec is 19 points behind and Chris Rivas trails by 39.

Schumacher has already secured a record fifth consecutive class championship.

Each round victory on Sunday is worth 20 in addition to the 20 points for making the 16-car fields. Points are also awarded for qualifying, with the first of four such runs set for today at 1:30 p.m. Qualifying will continue Friday, also at 1:30 p.m., and the final two runs are set for Saturday, with the first session starting at 11 a.m.

Qualifying is essential to both Hight and Rivas. At 39 points behind the leader, they have an opportunity to win the title if they can last two rounds longer than those ahead. But if they fail to out-qualify the leaders, they can slip back to 40 or more points, which would require a three-round margin.

“It’s really important,” said Hight, who has won the last three NHRA events, and four of the last five, at Pomona. “But you really can’t worry about where you qualify, you just have to make sure you qualify.”

That’s the pressure all the drivers still in the hunt are feeling.

Wilkerson, whose six wins this year is one more than he had secured in his first 12 years in the sport, has never won a title. Hight finished second to Tony Pedregon last year. It’s been 16 years since Cruz Pedregon won his last championship, or “two owners and 10 crew chiefs ago.”

Under the old points format, Wilkerson would have clinched the title. But under the Countdown to the Championship, he’s in second.

“The last six races really makes it more important than we’ve been able to accomplish, unfortunately for us,” Wilkerson said. “But it’s been a really good year. There is no way we’re going to leave this year with our head held down.

“We’ve proven that we can run with the best of them. And with the best of them, I mean Robert and Cruz and Tony and the (Don) Schumacher (Racing) group. When you can run with those guys, you’re really just doing a terrific job.”

Krawiec and Rivas are in their first title hunt.

“The field in Pro Stock Motorcycle is actually pretty tough, it’s grown leaps and bounds in the past two or three years,” said Krawiec, winless this year. “Just to be able to qualify for the class is a big deal. It’s tough to just get in there. And that is where the weekend starts.

“But to race against the guys out there, Chris and Matt and everybody else, you can’t count any rounds as a gimme. So our main goal is to just go out there, focus, be consistent, go rounds.”

Lou Brewster is a nationally recognized motorsports journalist who has staffed NASCAR and NHRA events since 1969. Has also staffed high school football, in five different states, since 1967. Has won several national awards in writing and breaking news.